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Students in custody after fight involving knife

Two students are in custody after a fight involving a knife in the Central High School cafeteria, authorities said.

Maury County Sheriff’s Capt. Jimmy Tennyson said a large kitchen knife was confiscated at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday during the fight between two 17-year-old male students.

Tennyson said the school resource officer and principal of the school intervened and pulled the weapon from one student’s hand after he pulled it from a backpack during the incident.

“He took it out of his backpack and brandished the knife, and that’s when the principal and the SRO noticed the weapon and got involved,” Tennyson said.

He said authorities were still investigating the cause of the fight.

Maury County Public Schools spokeswoman Kim Doddridge said no injuries were reported.

The two students were transported to Maury County Juvenile Detention Center without incident, Tennyson said. Both are charged with aggravated assault. The unarmed student was also charged with disorderly conduct, while the student who brought the knife to school was additionally charged with possessing a weapon on school property.

The school was placed on soft lockdown, Doddridge said.

“The school day is continuing like normal, but the students aren’t being allowed to roam the halls and there aren’t a lot of people being let in and out of the school,” the spokeswoman said.

An automated phone message sent to parents and guardians let them know a fight occurred but that everyone was safe.

“We have no injuries, and the situation has been handled … ,” the message said. “There was a rumor circulating that there was a gun. This is not true. We did not have a gun in school.”